ИСТИНА

The Bosporan Kingdom was a Hellenistic state located in Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the present-day Strait of Kerch. It emerged in the V c. BC and then became a client kingdom of the Roman Empire (I-IV cc AD). The kingdom was involved in extensive trade connections with other regions of the empire and has been populated by numerous local tribes of different origins, including Maeotians, Scythians and Sindi. More than 70 burials of the “Polyana Topolya” ground necropolis were excavated in 2016. The site is located in the southern periphery of the Bosporan Kingdom. Grave goods include numerous ceramic items, iron tools, jewelry, mirrors, and weapons in most male burials. Whole animal carcasses we inhumed in many of adult burials. The necropolis can be divided into western (W) and eastern (E) parts that are separated by a spatial hiatus but also display differences in the abundance and composition of grave goods. A comparison of bioarcheological profiles of the two subsamples revealed substantial differences between them. Male to female ratio is 41% to 59% in W and 68% to 32% in E. The mean age-at death of adults is 42.5 years in E and only 38.8 years in W. A number of pathological markers are observed at a much higher frequency in W: cribra orbitalia, ante-mortem tooth loss, dental calculus, periodontal disease, postcranial trauma, joint and spine osteoarthritis. This corresponds well with the relative scarcity of grave goods in the western subsample. Importantly, all postcranial metrics are almost identical in the two subsamples pointing towards their genetic relatedness. Thus, the observed differences can be explained by social differentiation and kin structure of this ancient population. Interestingly, despite the presence of weapons in virtually all male burials, no case of cranial trauma was observed in the sample.